What Guilt Leads To
by Intrepid Spirit
Summary: Tara Chambler and Maggie Greene manage to escape from Terminus, unharmed. They must set aside their differences and work together to help rescue their friends before they are all killed in a sick "game" that the people of Terminus are playing. But, what else will their time together lead to?
1. Tears of Regret

With silent tears of regret and shame streaming down her pale, tired face, invisible to those around her, Tara Chambler sat on the floor, elbows digging into her own knees, with her back slouched up against the hot metal wall of the nearly pitch black train car. On an endless loop inside of her crowded, dark mind, a single word replayed itself over and over, a menacing reminder of what she truly was: outsider.

It had been two long, seemingly endless, and painful days since Tara had been thrown into that awful death box, along with Glenn, Maggie, and all of the others who had made it to Terminus. Tara was tired, she was hungry, but more than anything else, she had been scared...but what right did she have to be scared? What was she scared of? Dying? No, she couldn't have been scared of dying. She had deserved to die, at least, in her mind she did. She had nothing left to live for anymore anyway, so what was the point?

Tara had been a part of the attack...no, the _slaughter _that had taken place at the prison: hell, she had been the first person to step up and volunteer to go attack them. And what did it cost her? The lives of her only remaining family and the guilt she had been bearing on her shoulders; knowing that she was a part of the reason that the good people who had lived in the prison (what was left of them anyway) were as good as dead.

A soft and miserable sigh escaped from in between Tara's rough, cracked lips as she let her head fall back and rest against the metal wall, making a soft thumping sound that echoed throughout the small enclosure. She couldn't even bare to look at the other people in the train car, knowing without a doubt that it was only a matter of time before they were all dead because of what she had done; what "Brian" had so _easily _convinced her to do.

The only thing that Tara had done recently that she felt could be the start of redeeming herself; was helping Glenn become reunited again with his wife, Maggie. After all, it had been Tara's fault that they were separated in the first place. But, Maggie of course, did not know this. She had absolutely no idea that Tara had been a part of "Brian's" army, a part of the people who had decapitated Maggie's father in front of her, a part of the people who had destroyed the prison that was a home to those who inhabited it. Glenn had lied to Maggie and told her that he had met Tara "on the road".

Tara stole a quick glance over at Glenn and Maggie, who had seemed to be the happiest of all the people in the train car. The two of them sat side by side, awkwardly holding hands, as much as the handcuffs they all were forced into wearing allowed them to. Maggie's head was leaning against Glenn's shoulder as he whispered softly into her ear, inaudible to the others in the train car. Every so often, the welcome sound of Maggie's soft giggles echoed quietly in the train car.

Tara shook her head slightly, looking away from the young couple as she raised her restrained, sore hands to her face, covering it, as if to hide herself and become even more invisible to the others around her then she already had been. It wasn't like anyone in that train car ever noticed her anyway...except Eugene, maybe. But, Tara definitely was not interested in him, he was a _guy_. Tara had made it perfectly clear on numerous occasions by this point that she was gay and had no interest in being with Eugene, or any other guy for that matter.

As Tara began to feel like she was drowning in her own thoughts, a loud clang sounded from over by the door of the train car as it was practically busted open. The bright light that had seeped into the nearly pitch dark train car through the opened door was near blinding. So much so, that Tara hadn't noticed a man step into the train car, closing the door part way behind him, dimming the bright light and allowing Tara the ability to vaguely see him, her dark brown eyes squinted in the harsh light.

Wordlessly, the man stepped further into the train car, his evil eyes beginning to scan the nervous faces of the people trapped within the dark metal walls. He suddenly stopped, frozen, his eyes locked on Glenn and Maggie.

"You two, lovebirds, come with me," he ordered gruffly, gesturing with his hand for the two of them to stand up and follow him out of the train car.

Tara felt her stomach drop considerably when she thought of what the people of Terminus were planning to do to Glenn and Maggie. The people who ran Terminus were _sick_. From what Tara could gather, they were likely cannibals, and were definitely psychotic murderers, keeping people locked up in a train car with close to no food. Those sick fuckers were probably keeping them all locked up, only to kill them and eat them later on.

Tara couldn't bare to think about what those psychos were going to do to Maggie and Glenn, but she was sure of one thing: that when she watched the two of them step out of the train car behind the man, hand in hand, her heart racing and her sad, wide eyes filling with a fresh set of tears, it was the last time she was ever going to see either of them again.


	2. Utter Pain and Sorrow

Maggie's fingers were interlocked with Glenn's as tightly as she was capable of with her wrists so heavily restrained. She kept close to his body, listening to the sickening crunch of dirt and small rocks beneath her boots as they followed behind the man. Maggie's bright green eyes were fixed upon this strange man, who was leading her and Glenn away from the train car and towards a large, brick building.

What had finally caused Maggie to break her stare and turn her head to look at her husband was when he lightly nudged her in the upper arm with his bony elbow. "Hey," Glenn whispered softly, the sound of his voice instantly calming the panic building up inside of Maggie's chest. "Before anything happens to us; I just wanna let you know that I love you, okay?" he finished, keeping his tone calm and soothing, even though his words implied that both he and Maggie would likely be dead soon.

Maggie gave Glenn a single, weak nod, looking directly into his dark brown eyes, which were clearly filled with fear. "I love you, too," she whispered back, trying her hardest to give Glenn's hand a reassuring squeeze. She then dropped her head to look away from her husband, her gaze quickly traveling back to the man leading them to what Maggie believed to be their death.

As the three of them stepped inside of the large, brick building, the man leading Maggie and Glenn came to a sudden stop, holding his hand out and gesturing for them to do the same. Maggie did as she was instructed to do, and turned her head, taking in the entire room that she had been standing inside of. It was mostly cement, the walls, the floor: all cement. It was dimly lit with a single light bulb hanging from the center of the high ceiling and cold, damp, and was so creepy that it caused Maggie's skin to break out into goosebumps.

"Separate," the man demanded, his voice icy as he pointed his index finger at Glenn and Maggie's interlocked fingers.

Very slowly and reluctantly, Maggie did as the man instructed her to do, releasing her grip on Glenn's hand, knowing that it could likely be the last time she ever touched him. Maggie then took a few steps to the side, furthering the distance between herself and Glenn, hoping it would satisfy the man.

With his features set into a twisted grin, the man looked from Glenn to Maggie and back again, letting out a soft breath as he sickeningly stared at them. "We're gonna play a little game," he said, his voice eerily casual, considering what he was planning to do to Glenn and Maggie.

"A game?" Glenn asked, his voice growing impatient as he quirked an eyebrow in confusion at the man's statement. "What do y'mean by 'game'?"

"Oh, don't you worry," the man said, his voice antagonizing. "It'll be a _fun _game. I needed the two of you for the first step of it. Here's how it's gonna go: one of you, just _one _of you, is going to die. I don't give a shit which one of you it is; the two of you can decide that among yourselves. But just know this: whichever one of you gets to live, has to watch the other die, and then, you will be faced with yet another decision, this time, clearly you'll have to make it alone. You will be asked to pick one of your friends from the train car to be spared along with you, and tomorrow, you and that one friend will be set free from Terminus: no trouble. We'll just let you go...but, first you'll need to pick which two of your friends will be our next 'contestants' in this little game. We will inform the others of the rules of the game tomorrow after two survivors are let free. We will continue the game in this fashion until you are all gone," the man explained, his voice remaining calm and casual.

Maggie's stomach had dropped immediately after the man had said that one of them would be forced to watch the other die. She knew Glenn well enough to know that there was absolutely no way that he would allow her to die. So, the man might as well have said that Maggie was going to be forced to watch her husband die and then she would be forced to pick which friends of hers would be the next victims of this sick "game".

As suspected, Glenn had immediately stepped closer to the man, undoubtedly volunteering himself to be killed in order to spare Maggie's life. Maggie's bright green eyes filled with tears of sorrow and hatred as she watched the sick, twisted man's mouth turn into a delighted grin at Glenn's heroic sacrifice. "Don't worry," Glenn whispered to Maggie when he caught sight of the distressed look plastered onto her paled face.

"Yeah, don't worry," the man mocked him, locking his eyes on Maggie. "We'll go easy on him..."

As Maggie tried to lunge forward in a desperate attempt to save Glenn, she was roughly grabbed around the waist from behind by someone who was clearly much larger and stronger than she was, restraining her completely. "Please!" she begged at the top of her lungs, as two more men appeared to assist the first one in the slaughter of Glenn. Maggie was unable to do anything except scream, cry, and plead for them to stop as they roughly threw Glenn to his knees, taking a brief minute to think over the most effective and efficient way to murder him.

Eventually, it was decided that they were to shoot Glenn in the head, quickly executing him. The first man, who had led Maggie and Glenn into the building, pulled out a gun, aiming it directly in between Glenn's eyes, which were wide with fear, and glued to Maggie. The tears that had been shining in them _screamed _how sorry he was that she had to watch this happen to him.

Before Maggie could say anything more to change the man's mind, the loud gunshot echoed throughout the dimly lit room, and Glenn's lifeless body collapsed to the floor in a heap, blood trailing down his face out of the bullet wound in his skull. Maggie let out an earsplitting scream at the sight, in a mixture of utter pain and sorrow. Her already weak knees completely gave out from underneath her as she fell to the floor, the man behind her, releasing her body from his grip.


	3. Playing a Little Game

Tara's stomach had dropped as she heard the horrific, blood curdling scream, undoubtedly produced from Maggie's throat. Her dark brown eyes widened in fear of what those horrible people had done. She couldn't bare to think about it, her heart sinking as she realized that she'd never get the chance to come clean and apologize to Maggie for everything that had happened at the prison.

Tara hugged her knees closely and tightly to her chest, her heart racing, knowing that she had indirectly caused whatever horrific death Maggie and Glenn had been sentenced to. She buried her face into her knees, hiding that she was beginning to cry, heavy, wet tears streaming down her dirt caked face, creating clear streaks of clean skin on them. She kept her sobs silent, though, not willing to let any of the people in the train car know that she was breaking.

A good hour later, Tara's crying had died down considerably, only a few silent tears escaping from her eyes and dripping down her cheeks. She sniffled softly, not allowing anyone to hear it besides herself.

A loud creak signifying that the door to the train car had opened brought Tara to finally lift her head up, anger filling her body as she looked at the man who had undoubtedly murdered Maggie and Glenn. The anger must have been apparent on her face as the man looked directly at Tara, his mouth twisted into a sickening smirk.

"Don't look so upset, sweetheart," he mocked her. "I only killed _one_ of your friends."

The man's eerie voice and menacing words caused Tara's heart to skip a beat, a small flicker of hope igniting inside of her chest as she selfishly felt some of the guilt of knowing it was her fault, ease away.

Daryl took a step away from the wall, his eyes glaring into the man's. "Which one?" he demanded, trying to intimidate the man, who simply laughed at the attempt.

"Chinese one," the man spat, his smirk growing as he took in the looks of despair on the faces around him.

"He's Korean," Daryl corrected the man, his voice a hoarse whisper, shocked and saddened by the discovery that Glenn had been killed.

"Whatever," the man said, dismissing it. "Doesn't matter anymore; he's dead. You see...we're playing a little game here. I'm not going to explain all of the rules to you right now, but I'll let you know the basics. Your friend, the brunette one that I took earlier with the 'Chinese' kid, she was offered to choose one person in this train car to be set free from Terminus tomorrow alongside her. She chose you," the man said, pointing his index finger directly at Tara's chest. The shock at the man's statement must have been showing on Tara's face because the next thing he said was, "Yeah, you. You're the lesbian, right? Tara?"

"Uh…y-yeah," Tara replied, feeling at a loss for words, beyond confused at why Maggie would choose _her_ of all people. If Maggie knew the truth about her, she would have _hated _Tara, not have been trying to save her worthless life.

"So, congratulations," the man said, giving a small, malicious laugh to Tara as he stepped closer to her, unlocking and removing the handcuffs from her wrists. She immediately began to rub at the tender, raw flesh that had been bleeding from the constant contact of the harsh metal. "You'll be free to leave in the morning. Oh… and you," the man said, darting his eyes over to look at Bob and Sasha. "Your friend chose the two of you to be the next contestants in our little 'game'. You'll be participating sometime in the next couple of days."

"What?!" Sasha asked, feeling slightly hurt and confused at why Maggie would choose her and Bob of all people in the train car. She was soon hit with the realization that Maggie really had no choice, and had been through enough that day. She didn't need for Sasha to be angry with her along with everything else that had happened.

"One more thing before I go," the man said, stepping out of the train car for a moment before returning into it, roughly pushing a sobbing and weak Maggie, who was free of her handcuffs now as well, towards Tara. Tara immediately jumped to her feet, taking Maggie into her arms, as she was the only person capable of doing so.

"I'll see you two soon," the man said as he exited, his comment directed towards Bob and Sasha.

Once he had shut and locked the heavy, creaking door, the train car became nearly pitch black, once again. The only sounds that could be heard were Maggie's heavy, heart wrenchingly devastated sobs, slightly muffled into Tara's shoulder.

As Tara wrapped her newly free arms around Maggie's frail body; one hand placed on the back of Maggie's neck, the other on her lower back, she had buried her face into Maggie's hair, not realizing that she had done so. Relief had washed over Tara's entire body as soon as she had seen Maggie being pushed back into the train car, alive. But with that relief also came sorrow at the sight of her being so distraught. Tara was absolutely positive that she had never seen anybody this upset or heartbroken before.

Each one of Maggie's sorrowful, pain-filled tears had soaked through Tara's shirt and began to drip down her dirt caked skin, and at that moment, Tara had made a promise to herself. She would come clean to Maggie the next day; apologize to her for everything that had happened. And after all of that was sorted out, Tara would _never _again allow anything to happen to Maggie that would cause her this much pain and heartache. Tara was going to protect this woman with everything she had. Tara finally had something to live for.


	4. Emotionally Drained

Maggie was not particularly fond of the idea of sobbing in front of other people, especially Tara, who she had not had too much time to get to know. Although she didn't know Tara very well, Maggie had liked her since the first time they met. Tara was a good person, and Maggie knew that. After all, if not for Tara, Maggie would have never found Glenn again. Oh, no. Maggie was trying her hardest to push every single thought of Glenn as far out of her mind as she possibly could. This was all too real and tragic for her to deal with, and she wanted to push the pain away from herself for as long as was possible.

Maggie kept herself enveloped in Tara's comforting embrace for hours. Normally, she would not have thrown herself into Tara's arms, but as everybody else was still in handcuffs, she didn't have much of a choice. She needed the support. She needed to cry on someone's shoulder, so why not Tara's?

Maggie could tell that Tara was beginning to get tired as her body started to sway slightly and her grip on Maggie began to loosen considerably. This only made Maggie grab onto Tara more tightly and desperately than she had been before, her fingers gripping onto the crinkled fabric of Tara's shirt as she pulled the other woman closer to herself.

"Don't," Maggie begged, her voice dry and raspy from crying. She lifted her face off of Tara's shoulder, noticing for the first time that Tara's face had been buried in her hair. Maggie sniffled softly and used her shoulder to wipe some of the wet tears off of her cheeks, unwilling to let go of Tara. "Don't let go of me," Maggie pleaded, her voice shy and quiet, feeling like a small child.

"I won't," Tara assured Maggie, her voice a soft and soothing whisper that relaxed Maggie instantly, her fingers loosening their hold on Tara's shirt. "C'mon, though. We should sit down. You need to get some sleep, and you can't do that while you're standing."

Maggie nodded her head weakly a single time in consent, allowing Tara to pull away from her and sit down again. Maggie was weak, tired, and emotionally drained. She could hardly stand up on her own without the support of Tara's body to hold her upright. So, as soon as Tara was settled on the floor and outstretched her arms up to Maggie, Maggie's body collapsed into them.

As Maggie lied in Tara's arms, trying to think of anything but Glenn, she began to wonder why Tara had her handcuffs off. The man who had taken Maggie's handcuffs off did so because she would be leaving Terminus the following day. That must have meant that Tara knew Maggie had picked her to be the person to leave Terminus unharmed by Maggie's side.

Tara must have been wondering why Maggie had chosen her out of all of the people. But, to be honest, Maggie wasn't so sure of the answer to that herself. As soon as the man had asked her who it would be, she had choked out Tara's name. It had just seemed like the right person to pick. Nobody there had deserved to die, but Maggie had apparently wanted to save Tara's life more than anybody else's in that train car.

As Maggie continued to push herself to figure out why she had chosen Tara, she came to the realization that deep down, she had felt that she owed Tara in some way. Yes, Glenn had died, but at least before he did, Maggie had gotten to spend a few final days with him; and that was all thanks to Tara. Satisfied with herself for figuring out why she chose who she had chosen, Maggie had allowed herself to close her, red, puffy, swollen eyes. She buried her face into Tara's shoulder, the sensation of having her eyes closed had instantly soothed some of her pain.

"Sorry," Maggie had mumbled softly, her voice muffled into the soft, plaid fabric of Tara's outer shirt.

Confused at what Maggie had been apologizing for, Tara raised a single eyebrow, resting her chin gently on top of Maggie's head. "Sorry for what?" Tara whispered back, thinking that she was the only one who should have something to be sorry for.

"Cryin' all over you," Maggie replied, her voice still hoarse and cracked from crying and screaming so much.

Tara let out a soft giggle, wrapping one of her arms more securely around Maggie's body. "It's fine," she whispered, honestly not caring that Maggie had cried on her.

Maggie weakly nodded her head, trying to keep herself from using her voice as much as was possible. Her throat ached terribly from screaming.

"You should get some sleep," Tara urged her softly.


	5. Not Worthless

It had literally been eating at Tara for _hours _to find out why Maggie had chosen to save her out of everyone. Why her? She was nothing but a piece of shit.

It was obvious at this point that both she and Maggie had needed to get some sleep, but the not knowing was practically driving Tara insane, so she cleared her throat softly and spoke, "Hey, Maggie? Before you go to sleep, can I ask you something?"

Tara felt the weak movement of Maggie's head nodding underneath her chin, signifying that Maggie had consented to answering the question.

Tara had hesitated for a brief second while she built up the courage to ask, "Why'd you pick me?"

Tara had then felt the soft shrug of Maggie's shoulders in her tight grip. "I dunno," Maggie whispered softly, "'cause I owe you…"

"You owe me?" Tara asked, feeling terribly confused. If only Maggie knew what Tara had done...then she wouldn't think that she owed her anything. Maggie should have been wanting Tara dead, not trying to save her life, thinking that she "owed" her. Owed her for what? Killing her father and her husband? Destroying her home? Having her lose her little sister? Tara just couldn't understand.

"Yep," Maggie said, as if it were the most obvious statement in the world. "If not for you, I would've never been able to see Glenn again..." she replied, her voice breaking slightly as she spoke Glenn's name.

Tara shook her head vigorously. "No," she said harshly, unwilling to agree with Maggie's thoughts. She wasn't about to let Maggie know the truth about herself just yet, but she also wasn't about to let Maggie think that she owed Tara anything, because she didn't...not after what Tara had done.

"Tara..." Maggie mumbled, her tone slightly whiny as she tried to brush Tara's disagreement off as something she was saying to avoid being praised for the good that she had done.

"I don't deserve to be saved," Tara stated, her voice flat and emotionless as she spoke what she thought to be the truth, "you should've saved someone who isn't...worthless..."

"You're not worthless…" Maggie managed to say, her voice raspy and strangled, not understanding why Tara was saying such things about herself. But, Maggie had really meant what she said, she was just too tired to argue with Tara any further on the matter. But, being as stubborn as she was, Tara had wanted the final word.

"I am," she stated, her voice still showing no emotion. "I'm still a piece of shit, just like I was before I helped Glenn find you."

Maggie shook her head, implying that she was disagreeing with Tara, but was too weak to actually speak to her and retort. "...not worthless," she managed to mumble after a few moment's hesitation.

This time, Tara had decided to let Maggie have the last word, allowing her to fall asleep. It was obvious to Tara that Maggie had been exhausted, and they had to leave Terminus in the morning. Maggie would need her rest before going out and walking for possibly miles. So, Tara rested her head back against the warm metal wall of the train car, her chin no longer resting on Maggie's head, who whined softly at the loss of physical contact with Tara. Tara allowed a small smile to sneak its way onto her lips as she heard the soft noise. But, the smile quickly faded off of her face when she reminded herself about the awful situation everyone was in because of her.

Tara let a heavy sigh escape from her lips, licking them lightly to change the fact that they were so dry and cracked. "I'm sorry," she blurted out, aiming it specifically at Maggie, but the volume of her voice made it seem like she was addressing everyone in the train car.

"Ain't your fault," Rick mumbled from the opposite side of the train car, his eyes fixed on Maggie and Tara. "We all got fooled into thinkin' that this was gonna be some sorta sanctuary. Ain't jus' your fault. Everyone here believed it."

"Nevermind," Tara quickly dismissed Rick's words with another heavy sigh, knowing that no one would ever understand the guilt that she carried around constantly. It was too much for even her to understand at times. But unlike Maggie, Rick knew. He knew what Tara had really been apologizing for, he knew that she was with the Governor's group when they attacked the prison. Hell, he had looked her right in the eyes as she stood there beside the Governor, moments before he beheaded Hershel. Tara knew that Rick had recognized her the moment that he stepped into the train car and caught sight of her. But, to her knowledge, he had not told anyone who she really was. Tara wasn't sure yet whether or not she was grateful for that fact.


	6. Harsh Light of Day

Maggie woke up the next morning to the sound of the heavy train car door creaking open. She slowly opened her eyes, squinting them in the brightness that the open door allowed to seep into the dark train car. A group of four men stepped inside, one of whom was the man who had been there the previous day. The other three were unfamiliar to Maggie. Maggie's face immediately twisted into wry expression out of pure hatred for this man and everyone else involved in Terminus.

"You two," the familiar man stated, pointing his index finger directly at Maggie and Tara. "I want you two to leave before we explain the specifics of this game to your friends. This is our man, Gareth," the man said, jerking his head towards one of the men who stood beside him. "He'll be escorting the both of you out of Terminus. Go with him. Now."

Maggie hesitated for a moment, turning her face to look up at Tara, as if asking for her permission to stand up. Tara slowly unwrapped her arms from around Maggie's body, gently pushing her away. Maggie took the gesture as an implication that she should stand up and allow Tara to do the same.

Maggie then placed one hand on the dirt covered, wooden floor of the train car, pushing herself to her feet. She then extended her other hand down to Tara, who accepted it and allowed Maggie to assist her to her feet as well. As Tara stood up, she tightened her grip on Maggie's hand, rather than loosening it. Maggie allowed Tara to do so as she was scared also, and needed to feel the support. Hesitantly, the two of them began to walk over to the man named Gareth, who greeted them with a twisted grin.

"Good morning," he said casually, as if he and his people weren't going to be murdering what was left of their friends.

Maggie refused to say anything back to the man, too busy glaring at him with anger and hatred.

"Alright, not gonna talk to me, I see. It's okay. We get a lot of people like that," Gareth said, mocking an attempt to comfort Maggie and Tara. "Just...follow me, and then you can get outta this place. I know, I know, _finally,_ right?" As Gareth finished talking, he began to step down out of the train car, gesturing for Maggie and Tara to follow him as he did so.

As Maggie took the first step out of the train car, she tightened her grip on Tara's hand in a painful squeeze that was meant to be reassuring. "Sorry," she whispered softly when she heard the light gasp of pain emitted from Tara's lips at the gesture.

"It's fine," Tara assured her, dismissing it.

Maggie took a few more small steps into the harsh light of day, squinting her eyes yet again at the brightness. She grunted at the discomfort it caused her, raising her free hand up to shield her eyes as the sun glared into them. As she and Tara followed Gareth to the gates of Terminus, Maggie had shifted her hand slightly, interlocking her fingers with Tara's. She knew that it was likely that she'd never see any of her friends again; not Rick, not Michonne, not Daryl, not Sasha...hell, Sasha could very well have been dead within the next few hours after Maggie had condemned her and Bob to the same awful game that took Glenn's life. Tara was all Maggie had anymore. She was determined to keep her close... Maggie wasn't going to let Tara die like she had let Glenn...


	7. Blood Starting to Boil

As Gareth reached the final set of gates that would permit their exit from Terminus, he stopped, turning on his heel to face Maggie and Tara, revealing a wide and twisted grin of satisfaction due to whatever sick thoughts were brewing in his mind. "Before you leave, I must return something taken from each of you," he started after a moment's silence. "It isn't much, but I figure that two girls out on their own are probably gonna need something to protect themselves with, right?" Gareth asked, pretending as if he cared whether or not Maggie and Tara lived once they were free from Terminus. Slowly, he reached one hand down, slipping his fingers into his pant pocket, grasping firmly onto the handle of what appeared to be Maggie's knife. "This one's yours," he stated, pulling it into sight and holding it out towards Maggie.

Tara watched intently as Maggie reached her hand out, retrieving her knife from Gareth's hand, ready to lunge at him if he tried to hurt Maggie in any way. "Don't worry. I've got yours, too," Gareth assured Tara, as he caught her watching the exchange between himself and Maggie. Gareth reached his hand into his back pocket this time, pulling Tara's knife into sight. She quickly stepped forwards, snatching it from Gareth's hand angrily, implying that he never should have had it in the first place.

Slightly taken aback by the suddeness of Tara's actions, Gareth's mouth hung open slightly, his eyes moving back and forth between Maggie and Tara as he thought of something offensive to say. "You know," he started quietly, his voice menacing and icy, "it is an absolute _shame _that the two of you are leaving Terminus so soon...especially you," he finished, pausing for a moment as his eyes stopped on Maggie, moving up and down as he took in her entire body. Gareth's mouth twisted into a satisfied smirk, obviously aware of the discomfort that his gaze was causing Maggie, as she shifted awkwardly, keeping her head turned away from him.

With her blood starting to boil as Gareth degraded Maggie, Tara released her hand, jumping in front of her to block her body from Gareth's view. "Don't even _look _at her," Tara growled, aware that Gareth was doing this to make her angry with him. He was clearly trying to upset Tara, making her pay for her "rude" actions.

"Ah, I see," Gareth said, letting out a soft chuckle. "You wouldn't be interested in me 'cause you're a lesbian." His false comment was directed towards Maggie, but he kept his eyes locked on Tara's, his smirk growing even more menacing, practically feeding off of the look of anger plastered on Tara's face. This only made him want to push her even further. "Well," he said quietly, his eyes shifting back over to Maggie, who was just barely visible behind Tara's back, "it's a shame that you're not into guys. But, if you ever change your mind: why don't you come on back here to me...leave _her _behind," Gareth growled, clearly talking about Tara.

"Screw you, asshole," Tara hissed, spitting in his direction, but purposely not hitting him with it. She was trying as hard as she could not to reveal that she was feeling slightly afraid of what Gareth would do now that she had talked back to him.

"Oh!" Gareth exclaimed, his eyes widening slightly in pleasure at Tara's remark. He clearly was not offended by what she had said, but instead seemed to be amused by it.

"Let us go!" Tara shouted, feeling a little more brave now that Gareth hadn't responded negatively to her earlier remark. "You said we were gonna be let free, now let us go!"

"Fine," Gareth said, his voice coming out in between chuckles, clearly amused by Tara's attempt to intimidate him. "Fine...here." Gareth then turned away from Tara and Maggie, unlocking the gate and grabbing it, stepping backwards as he pulled it open, permitting their exit. "I'll see ya around," he muttered towards Maggie as she stepped outside of the gate, sticking close to Tara's body.

Tara quickly snapped her head back to give Gareth a look of disgust as she protectively grabbed Maggie by her shoulder and pushed her in front of herself in an attempt to keep her blocked from Gareth's view until they were far enough away from Terminus.

"I'll tell your friends you said 'good-bye'!" Gareth called out to them, slowly shutting the gate again and locking it.

Tara had hoped that this was the last time she'd ever have to see Gareth or hear his awful, disgusting voice again. Little did she know; her encounters with this man weren't even nearly close to being finished yet.


	8. Undeservingly Survived

Stepping outside of the gates of Terminus and being set back out free into the world again should have been nothing but a giant sigh of relief for Maggie, but instead, it had felt like a physical blow to the stomach, knowing that she would never again see any of her friends...no, not her friends, they were her _family_.

Wrapping her frail fingers more tightly around the handle of her knife as the two women walked, Maggie kept her head facing forwards, not wanting to look at Tara as she began to feel slightly embarrassed about the emotional state she had been in the night before.

The air surrounding the two women was cold and breezy, causing the breath being emitted from in between Maggie's cracked lips to instantly turn to fog as it escaped her mouth. The sun was no longer shining brightly from the sky, but was tucked behind a mess of dark grey rain clouds. The sight was mocking Maggie, illustrating perfectly how she currently had felt.

As they walked for hours in complete and total silence, Maggie remained a few short steps ahead of Tara. Maggie was only wearing a tank top on the upper half of her body, leaving her arms and the top of her chest completely exposed to the gradually cooling air. Goosebumps had begun to cover the exposed skin, causing Maggie to twitch with a slight shiver, apparently noticeable enough to catch Tara's attention, as the next thing Maggie knew was the other woman had removed her outer shirt, draping it gently over Maggie's exposed shoulders.

Maggie turned her head back, her pace slowing slightly as she allowed Tara to begin walking by her side. "Thanks," she whispered, her voice still hoarse and cracked from all of the screams which were produced from her aching throat the day before.

In return, Tara offered Maggie a weak smile, her lips barely twitching upwards as she tried to make it convincing.

As Maggie kept her eyes fixed upon the other woman, she noticed that Tara had now been only wearing a thin t-shirt, clearly beginning to get chilly herself. "You sure you don't need it? It's pretty cold..."

"I'm sure," Tara said quietly, avoiding looking at Maggie as she tried to hide the guilt in her eyes.

Accepting that Tara was going to be warm enough without it, Maggie shifted her shoulder blades slightly and pushed her arms through the sleeves of the soft plaid shirt until it was securely on her body, instantly making her feel more comfortable. "You alright...?" Maggie asked, quirking an eyebrow at Tara as she sensed that the other woman was holding something back.

Tara shook her head slightly, a loose piece of short dark hair falling from behind her ear and into the front of her face, where she didn't bother to remove it. "No…" she whispered quietly, picking her head up and risking a glance at Maggie as her brown eyes began to brim with tears of shame.

"What is it?" Maggie asked softly, noticing that Tara was on the verge of tears, her bottom lip trembling.

Tara allowed her eyelids to flutter shut as a single tear fell from each eye, trailing down her cheeks in the same spots that her tears from the previous day had cleared on her dirt caked skin. "I'm not… I'm not a good person," she whispered, her already shaky voice trembling even more as she reopened her eyes.

The shaky words that had escaped through Tara's lips were anything but the truth in Maggie's mind. Disagreeing with her, Maggie shook her head weakly. "Yes, you are. You were jus' a stranger to Glenn…" Maggie's voice broke completely as she spoke the name of her late husband, her mind beginning to flood with memories that she quickly pushed away, wanting to get her point across to Tara before she began to break down. "...but you still helped him find me again. You didn't need to do that…you did it 'cause you're a good person," she finished, using her free hand to wipe at her eyes, which were beginning to spill fresh tears down her cheeks.

Tara laughed sarcastically in spite of herself, shaking her head as she disagreed with Maggie. "I'm not who you think I am. I'm not some…'hero' that decided to randomly go do a good deed. I'm a piece of shit who was just trying to fix one of her reckless mistakes…"

Tara's words did nothing but confuse Maggie even further, her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at Tara, her mouth hanging open slightly in a gesture that clearly illustrated her confusion. "Mistakes? Wh-what do y'mean by that?" Maggie asked, desperate to pester the woman until she confessed the truth.

"Glenn and I didn't meet 'on the road'," Tara said quietly, looking away from Maggie with what was clearly a mixture of shame and guilt. "He saved my life after I assisted 'Brian' in the attack on the prison…after I undeservingly survived the ruthless slaughter that I was a part of."


	9. Apologies

Tara felt her heart drop as she watched Maggie stop walking, stepping in front of her with intimidation after she had confessed the one thing to Maggie that she had deserved to know the minute she had met Tara.

A soft "What?" of disbelief slipped out through Maggie's slightly parted lips, her bright green eyes beginning to shine with tears as they widened, her head shaking weakly, as if to say that Tara was wrong; that there was no possible way that she had been a part of what had happened at the prison.

Unable to face the shame of what she had done; unable to face Maggie after she had confessed to her the horrible thing she had been hiding from her, Tara lowered her head, nodding it to disagree with Maggie. "Yeah," she whispered shamefully, allowing her eyes to flutter shut as a single tear fell from each one, sniffling softly. "I'm so sorry, Maggie. I'm so sorry about your dad… about the prison… about Glenn and your friends at Terminus. I-it's all my fault… I-I told you I was a piece of shit. You should've saved someone else; someone who deserves to live. Not me…"

Maggie took a step back from Tara, clearly taken aback by this revelation, taking a moment to process it. "You...you were with the Governor… you attacked us… Wh-why didn't you tell me?!" she cried, placing both of her hands on Tara's shoulders as she roughly pushed her backwards, hitting her a few times after she had done so.

The outburst from Maggie wasn't even half as bad as Tara had anticipated it to be, but it still hurt. She wanted Maggie to trust her, and allow her to protect her, and from Maggie's reaction, that didn't seem like a likely scenario. "Maggie… I didn't wanna lie to you…" Tara whispered, trying her hardest to cover up the shakiness of her voice as she concealed how hurt she felt.

"I-I'm not mad…" Maggie whispered after a long pause, the silence eating at Tara as she had waited for Maggie to respond. "The Governor… he-he's the bad person, not you… you jus', you jus' fell for whatever bullshit he fed you, right?"

"It doesn't matter, Maggie!" Tara snapped, lunging forward, her face inches from Maggie's as she continued to yell, tears streaming down her face as she let all of her emotions out, "It doesn't matter why I did it! I still did it, and then I didn't even have the decency to tell you that I did! I'm worthless, and you don't owe me shit! If anything: I owe you! You should've just let me die back there and saved someone who deserves to live! I'm not worth it!"

Maggie slowly backed away from Tara, her eyes widened with fear as Tara had screamed in her face. Regretting the outburst she had wrongly directed at Maggie, Tara shook her head slightly, wiping away the loose strand of hair from her forehead finally. "Sorry… I'm sorry," she whispered, unable to look at Maggie any longer as she lowered her head, using her fingertips to wipe her tear streaked cheeks clean.

"I forgive you," Maggie said flatly after a brief pause, "I'm not exactly happy that you were a part of what happened, but I get it… I get what happened, an' I don't blame you for not tellin' me… If I were you, I wouldn'tve told me either…" She slowly swallowed a lump in her throat, looking nervous and as if she was preparing herself to say what she had said next: "But you think you owe me? Fine. Then I need you to help me with somethin'."

Tara quickly snapped her head up to look at Maggie, her stomach rising as she felt eager to learn of anything that she could do to help Maggie. "What is it? I-I'll do anything, _anything._"

"You're gonna help me save them," Maggie said quietly, looking past Tara's shoulder in the direction that they had come from, after having walked for several hours.

Tara followed Maggie's gaze and brought a hand to her shoulder, gently rubbing at one of the bruises forming on her skin from where Maggie had hit her, gasping sharply in pain at the sudden contact on the sore spot. "Save them? H-how do y'plan on doing that?" She asked, her jaw clenched as she squeezed her dark brown eyes shut in pain. Maggie punched hard…

"I dunno. We're gonna need to come up with a plan… some way that we can break them outta Terminus before they all get killed… so they don't end up like Gl-like Glenn," Maggie explained, her voice breaking completely as she spoke the last couple words, her sad eyes travelling over to Tara's hand, which was still softly rubbing at the bruise that was just barely becoming visible: a light bluish-purple mark where Maggie's fist had hit.

"We can't go back today. Or tomorrow," Tara said softly, having considered Maggie's crazy request, and consented to help, knowing that she had said she'd do anything for Maggie. She was going to stick to her word. She wanted Maggie's trust… no, she _needed_ it. "They'll expect it, the people who run Terminus. We've gotta wait at least two days; make 'em think we're not coming back, and then we'll jump in out of nowhere when they aren't expecting it, we'll save your friends. I know it's risky… we're potentially allowing at least one more of your friends to die, but that's better than almost all of them, right?" Tara asked, cocking her head back so that she was facing Maggie again, who's eyes were fixed upon Tara's hand, her head nodding slightly in agreement to the plan.

"Yeah, sounds good," she said softly, slowly lifting her eyes up until they were looking directly into Tara's. "I'm sorry… 'bout hittin' you." Maggie weakly lifted her hand up, her index finger extended as she gestured towards the bruise Tara was rubbing at. "I was jus' a lil upset that you lied to me, I-I wasn't thinkin'… sorry."

Tara shook her head dismissively, but kept her hand covering the bruise, trying to ease away the soreness it was causing her. "It's fine. I deserved a hell of a lot worse than that…" she said, her voice trailing off as she lifted her chin up, feeling a cold drop of rain fall onto the top of her head. "We should go somewhere to stay dry…it's starting to rain," Tara mumbled, using her other hand to gently grasp onto the fabric of her shirt that was now on Maggie's body, starting to pull her along as she began searching for some place that they could stay dry.


	10. I Won't Let You Die

Reluctantly at first, Maggie allowed Tara to to lead her somewhere else for the time being. She ran alongside the other woman, whose fingers were firmly gripped onto the fabric of Maggie's outer shirt, refusing to let go as she tugged her along. There were no buildings in sight, so Tara began to run towards the woods, presumably in the hopes that the trees would block most, if not all of the rainfall.

The ground was muddy and slippery, causing Maggie's feet to slide considerably as each heavy step she took caused mud to splash onto her legs from underneath her boots, the increasingly heavy rain soaking her hair, which was sticking to her face in small, dark, dripping pieces.

By the time Tara had stopped running and therefore caused Maggie to do the same, both women were out of breath and practically gasping for air. Maggie doubled over, placing both of her hands on her knees as she squeezed her eyes shut, inhaling and exhaling heavily as she pushed Tara's hand away from her body with what little energy she had left. "I don't…need y'to…treat me like…a kid," she choked out between deep and desperate attempts to fill her lungs with air.

Tara had placed one hand up against the rough and slippery moss-covered bark of a nearby tree, leaning against it as she kept her head down, presumably trying to catch her breath as well. Maggie weakly lifted her head up, stealing a quick glance at Tara, just barely catching sight of the other woman shaking her head with defiance. "You _need_ my help," Tara muttered, her voice low and almost completely drowned out by the sound of heavy rainfall pounding against the treetops and muddy forest floor.

Maggie scoffed softly, half hoping that Tara hadn't heard her do so. "I don't _need_ anythin' from you," she spat harshly, removing her hands from her knees as she backed up, slumping up against a tree. "I'm askin' for your help 'cause I got no one else to ask."

"Whatever," Tara muttered, keeping her head down as she avoided looking at Maggie. "Doesn't matter why you asked me to help you, the point is that you need me to. I owe it to you."

Maggie rolled her eyes, using the back of one of her hands to sloppily brush away the wet strands of hair that were sticking to her sweaty forehead. "Will you stop it with that 'I owe you' crap already?" She mumbled, taking another deep breath as her breathing finally returned to normal.

"No, I won't," Tara said, clearly showing the hurt in her voice at Maggie's remark as it trembled, her sad eyes finding Maggie's as a small frown formed itself onto her lips. "I owe you so much more than this…your entire family is dead because of me."

Maggie quickly snapped her head upwards, glaring angrily at Tara as she couldn't bare to spend another second dwelling on everything that she had lost. "Your family is dead, too," she snapped, her voice loud and full of malice, wanting Tara to feel just as bad as Tara had made her feel.

"Yeah, well that's not your fault. That's Brian's fault…" Tara muttered, quickly averting her gaze to the ground as she began to draw a messy pattern in the soft mud with the toe of her boot, her voice trembling presumably with the remembrance of her late father, sister, and niece.

Feeling guilty that she had purposely hurt Tara, Maggie used both of her hands to push her weak body off of the tree that she had slumped onto, stepping over to the other woman and loosely draping her arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry…that was pretty mean," she whispered, silently urging Tara to sit down on the ground, despite that it was muddy. "I know what you really meant by telling me that my entire family is dead," Maggie continued as she sat down on the ground beside Tara, leaning her head on the other woman's shoulder as she allowed her eyes to flutter shut, her arm dropping and wrapping itself firmly around Tara's back. "I get it, okay? I get that you think you owe me 'cause of what happened at the prison…but I don't blame you for any of that. Yeah, I was upset that you weren't jus' honest with me from the beginning, an' didn't jus' tell me that you were there, but that doesn't really matter anymore. I kinda need to get along with you…I'm stuck with you, aren't I?" Maggie asked playfully, lifting her head up for a brief moment as she opened her eyes, a small smile forming on her lips as she looked at Tara.

Allowing herself to let out a soft chuckle, Tara nodded in agreement to Maggie's question, bringing a single hand to her face as she tucked a loose piece of short, dark hair behind her ear.

After seeing that Tara had no longer looked upset, Maggie lowered her head, leaning it against Tara's shoulder again, this time keeping her eyes opened. "You're right…I do need your help, Tara. But it's not 'cause I think you 'owe' me. It's 'cause I trust you, an' I know that you're capable of helpin' me…an' to be honest; I don't got a whole lot of options…I need to save my friends before they get killed," Maggie said, her voice growing softer with each word she spoke as she moved her shivering body closer to Tara's, wrapping her other arm around the front of the other woman after she had pulled her knees tightly to her chest. "I can't let anybody else die…" she whispered, her bottom lip trembling as she began to think of Glenn again, and how she could have died instead of him, which she gladly would have done if she had had the choice.

"You didn't 'let' Glenn die, Maggie. He _chose_ to…to save you. That's not your fault. Those people at Terminus are_ sick_ fucking bastards, and _they're_ the ones at fault," Tara spoke gently despite the anger that was clearly behind her words, resting her cheek against the top of Maggie's head as she awkwardly wrapped her arm around Maggie's waist, trying to comfort her and share body heat as the temperature progressively continued to drop.

"I'm not gonna let you die," Maggie said suddenly after a few long moments of silence had passed between the two women. Her voice was low and slurred as her eyelids began to grow heavy, her body falling more heavily onto Tara's as she started to fall asleep. "I won't let you die..."


	11. Something that Would Never Happen

As Maggie fell asleep on her shoulder, Tara kept her eyes wide open, her cheek still resting against the top of Maggie's head as the heavy rainfall began to seep through the treetops slightly more than it previously had been. The thick, heavy raindrops fell directly on Tara's head, dripping down the side of her face as she wiped them away with her fingertips every few seconds. She didn't mind all that much, as she knew that at least Maggie wasn't being bothered by the rainfall.

Letting a heavy sigh escape from between her parted lips, Tara began to stare down at her feet, pulling her knees to her chest, just as Maggie had done before she had fallen asleep. She wrapped the arm that wasn't placed around Maggie's waist around her own legs, clearing her throat awkwardly as a strangled sob escaped from her throat. Tara quickly bit down on her trembling bottom lip as she restrained herself from making any more noise, not wanting to wake Maggie.

Tears began to spill from her large brown eyes as she allowed them to flutter shut, small whimpers still managing to escape from her mouth, even as she tried to keep herself completely silent for Maggie's sake.

After a moment of allowing herself to cry in silence, Tara quickly picked her head up off of Maggie's, bringing a hand to her face to wipe away her tears. "No," she whispered to herself, knowing that the only reason she was crying was that she felt sorry for herself. "Pull yourself together…" she muttered, keeping one knee close to her chest as she outstretched the other leg in front of herself. "You need to be stronger than this…"

Tara exhaled shakily, allowing her head to fall back against the hard surface of the tree with a slightly painful thump, keeping her eyes wide open as she remembered the possibility of a very real danger: an unwelcome appearance from walkers.

With the sudden remembrance of danger, Tara's hand instinctually moved to the handle of her knife that was resting at her hip inside of its sheath. She pulled it free, her dark brown gaze continuously scanning the wooded area for walkers.

And Tara remained this way: throughout the entire night, just sitting up against the tree, one arm placed around Maggie's waist, the other resting on her own leg, her knife gripped loosely in her fingers. "C'mon," she whispered eerily, daring the undead monsters to reveal themselves from their hiding places, needing to kill them; needing to let all of her anger and frustrations out by stabbing and bashing their rotting skulls.

But, none came. The night was quiet and dark, nothing more, no "excitement". Just Tara sitting up against a tree in the silence, waiting for something that would never happen.

As the dim light of the sun began to shine through the thick treetops, Tara felt the slight movements of Maggie's body as she began to wake. Feeling a bit awkward that her arm was still placed around the other woman's waist now that it was morning and the temperature was beginning to rise, Tara retracted her arm back to herself before Maggie had woken completely.

"Morning, sunshine," Tara teased Maggie as the other woman lifted her head up off of her shoulder, her eyes squinted in the light.

"Mornin'," Maggie muttered groggily, using the backs of her hands to rub the tiredness from her eyes.

"You sleep okay?" Tara asked, her tone more serious now than it had previously been.

Maggie nodded, turning her face into her own shoulder as she stifled a yawn. "Yeah. Did you?"

Tara shook her head weakly, the pesky strand of hair falling out from behind her ear and hanging in front of her face once again as the movement of her head caused it to slip. Quickly, she pushed it behind her ear again as she let out a soft sigh, her gaze lowering to the knife that was loosely held in her grip. "I stayed awake the whole night…watched out for walkers, you know?"

Maggie nodded once again, this time in understanding at Tara's words. "You must be tired. Y'should get some rest before we start walkin'...or whatever we're gonna do today," she muttered, stretching her legs out in front of her as she let out a soft groan.

"No, I'm fine, really," Tara said, pushing herself up to her feet as quickly as she could in an attempt to prove to Maggie that she was ready for the day and didn't need any sleep. "C'mon," she urged Maggie, extending her hand down to her and gesturing for her to take it.

A weak but genuine smile worked its way onto Maggie's lips as she grabbed onto Tara's hand with her own, allowing the other woman to assist her to her feet. "Jus' gimme a minute," Maggie muttered tiredly, rubbing at her eyes again with the heels of her hands after she had released Tara's hand from her own. "My eyes are so puffy."

Keeping her gaze fixated on Maggie as she rubbed at her eyes, a small smile had formed on Tara's lips. "You look beautiful," she said honestly, lightly nudging Maggie's upper arm with her elbow.

Maggie couldn't stifle the small chuckle that slipped out from in between her lips, lowering her hands as she looked directly into Tara's eyes. "Are you hittin' on me?" she asked, her tone playful, but her question was completely serious.

Tara's cheeks had turned a light shade of pink as she averted her gaze to the ground, avoiding Maggie's question and clearing her throat awkwardly. "We should start walking…"


	12. I Don't Even Want Your Help

As Maggie obeyed Tara's suggestion and started to walk, she kept her head down, unable to keep herself from smiling at Tara's earlier remark, but she said nothing, knowing that Tara had let the compliment slip out on accident, and was probably feeling a little awkward and embarrassed because of it.

"Where are we heading today, anyway?" Tara called up from behind Maggie after a few brief moments of walking had passed. "We definitely can't go back to Terminus yet, you know that…"

"I know," Maggie muttered with a soft groan, her smile quickly faltering as she began to think of the danger her remaining friends were in. "But we _have_ to."

"No, we don't. I already told you that we can't go back there yet, Maggie. They'll be expecting us," Tara explained, her voice slightly whiny as she was practically pleading with Maggie to listen to her.

"I don't need you t'look out for me, Tara. I know what I'm doin'...an' I'm goin'," Maggie called back to Tara, starting to quicken her pace, determined to save her friends before they all ended up dead.

"Maggie, stop!" Tara demanded, stepping in front of the other woman and forcefully pushing her back a few steps. A little stunned at Tara's bluntness, Maggie obeyed her demand, staring at her: speechless. "I'm_ not_ gonna let you go back there and get yourself killed! Think about this! You're not that stupid! Glenn wouldn't want you to do this!"

Filled with rage at the sudden and unnecessary mention of her late husband, Maggie stepped closer to Tara, pushing her back this time, with more force than Tara had used. "What the hell would _you_ know about what he would want me to do? You don't know him! If anythin', this is what he would wanna do!"

Tara regained her balance and stepped up to Maggie, refusing to be as childish as to push the other woman again, but too angry and scared for Maggie to just let it go. "I don't care! I'm not letting you go!"

"Then leave!" Maggie cried, motioning with her empty hand for Tara to go as she let her anger and stubbornness get the better of her. "I don't need you anyway! I can do this on my own! I don't even _want_ your help!"

As soon as Maggie finished yelling, she regretted what she had said, seeing the look on Tara's face. The other woman was clearly hurt by what Maggie had said, her dark eyes filling with tears as her bottom lip began to tremble. "Fine," she whispered, her barely audible voice cracking. "I'll leave," she finished, bringing a shaky hand to her face as she brushed away the tear that had slipped down her cheek.

"Wait," Maggie pleaded as Tara began to walk in the opposite direction, her hand never leaving her face as she was wiping away every single tear that had spilled down her cheeks.

Tara ignored Maggie, not wanting her to see that she was crying, her pace quickening as she heard Maggie's footsteps following behind her.

"Tara, please!" Maggie cried, starting to jog to catch up to her, but this only caused Tara to start running instead of walking, disappearing behind a few trees.

Maggie groaned angrily as she slowed her pace to walking again, starting to get frustrated with how childishly Tara was responding to the situation. "Tara, I'm sorry, okay?" she called out, loudly enough for Tara to hear her. But Maggie received no response from her. "Tara?" she asked, starting to feel a little concerned.

Maggie froze as she peered her head around one of the trees that Tara had run behind, catching sight of three unfamiliar figures: a tall and muscular female with shoulder length blonde hair, who had a malicious-looking grin on her face; her hip resting against the side of one of the trees, and two men of about equal size, one of whom had his arm wrapped around Tara's chest, holding her against his body with a knife placed at her throat.

Maggie immediately placed her knife on the ground, raising her hands in the air. "L-let her go," she demanded with a shaky voice, her eyes never leaving Tara's face, which was streaked with tears, her eyes widened with fear and shock. "P-please."


	13. Heading To Terminus, Too

Hearing the concern in Maggie's voice as she called out Tara's name caused her heart to drop as she desperately wanted to answer the other woman, but the man who had placed the cold metal blade to her throat threatened to end her life if she made any noise, so she remained completely silent.

As Maggie came into Tara's view, Tara shook her head 'no' as weakly as she possibly could, careful not to let the man feel the movement, implying that Maggie should have just backed off and left so that she wouldn't get hurt. But of course, being as stubborn as she was, Maggie ignored Tara and tried to do things her own way: pleading with the strangers to let Tara free, and surrendering her only weapon. Tara could have slapped Maggie for the amount of careless danger that she was putting herself into.

"Maggie, _get out of here_," Tara warned Maggie, knowing that she was risking her own life in doing so, but she didn't care. Maggie's life was more important than her own.

"What did I tell you about talking?" The man asked Tara, pushing the blade down harder on Tara's throat as a small trickle of dark red blood began to trail down the skin of her neck.

"Stop!" Maggie cried, lunging towards the man, but she was stopped as the other man collided into her, pinning her up against a tree in a clearly protective manner of the two other people that he was with.

Tara heard the loud thump of Maggie's body being thrown up against the tree with force, and she struggled a little against the man's grip, trying desperately to see if Maggie was okay. Tara just barely caught a glimpse of Maggie's body pinned up against the tree by both of the man's arms, her eyes widened with fear, but she appeared to be uninjured, much to Tara's relief.

"Please," Maggie begged with a soft whimper as she tried to wriggle free from his hold, but this only caused the man to push her against the tree even harder.

"We heard you mention Terminus," the man growled through gritted teeth, glaring angrily into Maggie's eyes. "You guys are a part of it, aren't you?"

"No," Tara whispered before Maggie had the chance to answer the man's question.

"I didn't ask_ you_," the man called back to Tara, turning his head to look at her over his shoulder. "I asked your girlfriend."

"We're not a part of it, I swear," Maggie replied, her eyes filling with tears, terrified that these people wouldn't believe her.

"Then why'd we hear you talking about going back there?" the man who was holding onto Tara called over to Maggie, turning with her in his arms, so that Tara could fully see everything that was going on.

"They were holdin' us captive," Maggie explained, looking past the man's shoulder, her eyes locking on Tara, who was still silently cursing herself for not being able to convince Maggie to leave and get herself out of danger. "Our friends are still there...we need t'go back t'save 'em before they get killed...so _please_ jus' let us go, so we can do that."

The man who was holding onto Tara immediately removed his knife from her throat and released her from his arms, pushing her towards where Maggie and the other man were. "Let her go, Derek," he demanded.

At the man's command, Derek took a step back, allowing Maggie to move away and immediately rush to Tara's side and wrap her arms around her for a brief moment, whispering softly, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Tara whispered back, slipping one arm around Maggie's waist and bringing her hand to her own neck, wiping away the blood that had dripped down it.

Maggie removed her arms from around Tara, but stuck close to her side as Tara didn't let go of Maggie's waist.

"We're heading to Terminus, too," Derek informed Tara and Maggie, motioning for the woman to join him and the other man.

As she did so, she glanced at Maggie and Tara, letting out a heavy sigh. "They have the rest of our group held there, too. We're on our way to bust 'em out. We were kinda hoping that you two were residents of Terminus so we could take you as hostages and trade you for our people, but that doesn't look like much of an option anymore…"

"Well, sorry to ruin your plan," Tara grumbled sarcastically, wiping away the fresh trail of blood from the small wound on her neck.

The second man chuckled dryly at her remark, bringing a hand to his face to scratch the small beard that was growing on his chin. "Well, if you two are planning on going back there and saving your friends, what do you say; we come with you? We can all work out an attack plan together, bust all of our people outta there: everyone wins, right?"


	14. Got Any Ideas?

As the last few words from the man hung suspended in the air, Maggie turned her head to the side to look at Tara, just as Tara had done the same to look at her, both silently asking the other what they thought about the offer. Maggie wasn't stupid, and she knew that her and Tara would have a better chance at saving their friends with the help of these people, but she had no idea whether or not she trusted them. After all, the man who seemed to be the leader and that had made this offer was the same man that threatened to slice open Tara's throat if she spoke.

"Alright," Tara responded after a few long moments of suspenseful silence, a slight sigh escaping; clearly giving away that she was hesitant about her decision.

The man grinned widely at the two women and extended his hand towards Tara, a loose lock of his dark hair falling onto his forehead, dampened with sweat. "Toby," he introduced himself as Tara reluctantly grasped onto his hand, pulling back away as quickly as she could.

Toby was a few inches taller than both Tara and Maggie: about six feet, with dark brown eyes and dark hair that was soaked with a mixture of sweat and grease, his chin covered with a small and scratchy-looking beard. "Ya know that one's Derek," he grumbled, jerking his thumb in the direction of the man who had pinned Maggie against the tree. Derek was an inch or so taller than Toby, but he was slightly more overweight and less muscular with hair that appeared to have been blonde under a thick layer of dirt and who knows what else. He nodded his head un-enthusiastically in the direction of Tara and Maggie, his gaze fixated on the ground rather than anyone around him.

"And that's his little sister, Melanie," Toby finished, lowering his hand back down to his side as he raised an eyebrow at Tara, waiting for her to introduce herself.

"Tara," she replied with a soft sigh, loosening her grip on Maggie's waist as she brought her hand to the back of her own head, rubbing her neck nervously as she squinted one of her eyes in the sunlight that was shining brightly through the tops of the trees. "That's Maggie."

Toby's grin returned to his lips as he heard Tara introduce herself and Maggie, knowing that he had gained their trust and that he, Derek, and Melanie were going to receive much needed help with their attempt to free their people. "Well, Tara and Maggie, looks like we're allies now, huh?"

"Yeah…" Tara spoke softly and without enthusiasm, still undecided on whether or not she trusted these people, "guess so."

"So, what're we waiting for?" Melanie called over to Toby, placing a hand on her hip as she rolled her eyes, clearly unamused that Tara and Maggie would be joining the three of them. "We should go there _now_ and get this over with… go on our _own _ways."

Tara scoffed softly, shaking her head in disapproval of the suggestion. "We're _not_ going back there today. We need to wait a few days at the least," she explained, ignoring Melanie as she rolled her eyes dramatically.

Maggie groaned softly, crossing her arms over her chest after she wriggled free from Tara's shirt, draping it over her own shoulder.

"And we're _not_ having this discussion again," Tara grumbled under her breath, directing her comment towards Maggie's groan. "We just escaped from there yesterday, if the people at Terminus think we're planning on coming back to save our friends; they'd think we'd do it within the next few days: not wait too long."

Toby nodded his head in agreement to Tara's argument, clearly liking the way that she was thinking as he flashed her a small smile. "Good point. They expect something to happen: they'll be prepared, maybe even manage to capture us all again. It's smart to wait for a few days."

"They're gonna kill 'em," Maggie whispered in defeat, knowing that there was no way now that she was going to be able to convince them to attack Terminus before the people there killed at least one more of their friends.

"We'll save as many as we can, okay?" Tara whispered back in an attempt to comfort Maggie, nudging her lightly with her shoulder.

"That's not good enough," Maggie grumbled, stepping aside; away from Tara's reach, not wanting to be touched by her. Maggie removed Tara's shirt from her shoulder, considering throwing it at her, but she decided against being childish, and wrapped it around her waist instead, sighing heavily. Maggie hated not getting her own way, especially when it meant risking people's lives, even if deep down, she knew that Tara's call was the right one.

"So what're we gonna do for the next couple of days?" Derek asked, clearing his throat and breaking the tension that was beginning to build.

Toby shrugged his shoulders as he shook his head, a few more pieces of dark hair falling in front of his eyes. He placed one of his palms against the surface of a close tree, crossing his ankles. "We need an attack plan," he suggested, turning to face Tara and Maggie. "Got any ideas?"


	15. Is It That Obvious?

As the hours of the day rolled on and the pitch black of night overtook the sky, Melanie and Derek had fallen asleep, their heads resting on top of backpacks stuffed with their belongings. It was decided amongst all of them that the best plan was to wait two more days before returning to Terminus, and during those two days, they would decide their exact approach to attacking and reclaiming their groups.

Defeated, Maggie had decided there was no use in arguing like a child any longer, and she had taken a seat beside Tara, resting her head against her shoulder and allowing her eyes to flutter shut with intentions of falling asleep this way. Her plan was disrupted however, when Toby seated himself on the ground beside her.

"Hey," he mumbled lowly, directing it towards Tara, as he ran his fingers through his hair, pushing back loose strands. "Is she asleep?"

Maggie remained still, keeping her eyes shut, still awake as she felt Tara tilt her chin down, checking to see if Maggie was asleep.

"Mhmm," Tara muttered, clearly uninterested in having a conversation with Toby.

Toby nodded, letting his head fall back against the trunk of the tree that his back was pressed up against. "Sorry about the whole 'knife to your throat' thing," he whispered, careful not to wake up Maggie, as a small chuckle was emitted from his lips.

"Hilarious," Tara murmured sarcastically as she brought a hand instinctually to her throat, running her fingers over the patch of dried blood from where Toby had pressed his blade to her neck.

Toby sighed softly, wrapping his arms around his legs as he pulled his knees to his chest. "So… how did the two of you get out of Terminus?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Maggie almost opened her mouth to answer Toby, but quickly remembered that she was supposed to be asleep, so she remained silent and allowed Tara to answer.

"Some disgusting game they're playing," Tara mumbled, furrowing her eyebrows as she thought about it, "they killed Maggie's husband, Glenn… but they let her go and they let her take me with her."

Maggie's stomach dropped instantly as Tara mentioned Glenn's death, but she managed to keep herself from breaking down, squeezing her eyes shut harder and burying her face into Tara's shoulder.

Thinking that Maggie must have been having a nightmare of some sort, Tara wrapped a comforting arm around her back, pulling her closer.

"Wait… so you and Maggie aren't, ya know, together?" Toby asked, clearly having thought that this was the case.

Tara let out a soft chuckle that Maggie could have sworn sounded sad. "No, we're not…" she whispered, resting her chin on top of Maggie's head, her eyes meeting Toby's.

Toby's mouth twisted into a grin as he locked eyes with Tara, seeing right through her. "Oh," he whispered, looking up to the dark sky, only illuminated by the dim white light of the moon and stars, "I see what's going on here."

Tara swallowed the lump in her throat as she raised a single eyebrow at Toby, as if she didn't know what he was talking about. "What do you mean by that?" Maggie could hear the shakiness and nervousness in Tara's voice, instantly giving away that she had recognized that Toby had in fact figured out what she had been trying so hard to keep hidden.

"You're in love with her," Toby whispered, lightly poking Maggie's shoulder blade with his index finger, his words causing Maggie's mouth to become dry and her heart to begin racing, "but she'll never feel the same way, right? That's usually how this whole thing works, anyway."

Tara swallowed another nervous lump in her throat, her gaze falling to Maggie's hands, which were loosely gripping onto the material of her shirt, her eyes locking on the diamond ring that was placed on Maggie's finger, her eyes beginning to fill with tears. "Is it that obvious?" she whispered, her voice breaking and her words causing Maggie's breath to hitch in her throat.

Toby shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, chuckling softly yet again. "Not really. I'm just really observant," he replied sarcastically, motioning his head towards Maggie and Tara, indicating that Tara's protectiveness practically gave it away.

Embarrassed, Tara loosened her grip on Maggie slightly, picking her chin up off of her head. "Can we change the subject?" she asked softly, her cheeks flushing.

Toby nodded as he let his head fall back against the tree yet again, letting out a heavy sigh. "These Terminus people are real assholes, huh? You sure we can take 'em on? Just the five of us? I mean, they seem… powerful. Are you sure we can take 'em?"

Tara nodded vigorously, running her tongue across her top row of teeth. "Yeah, I'm sure."


	16. Extremely Disappointed

Tara woke the next morning, her left arm numb under the weight of Maggie's body leaning against it. With a soft groan, she lifted her right hand to her face, rubbing at her eyes in an attempt to clear her vision. Tara suddenly cocked her head to the side, leaning forwards as she heard a soft rustle coming from behind a cluster of thick trees. Melanie and Derek were still asleep on the ground, but Toby was nowhere in sight.

Not wanting to risk anyone's safety in case the noise was produced by a walker, Tara carefully inched away from Maggie's body, which slouched slightly without the support of Tara's shoulder to lean on. She quickly scrambled up to her feet as she heard another low rustle, her fingers wrapping around the handle of her knife as she pulled it free from the sheath at her side and peered her head around the side of the cluster of trees.

The sight that met Tara's eyes at first didn't alarm her; Toby kneeled on the ground beside the trees, facing the opposite direction of her. Not until she heard him speaking in a low whisper did she begin to panic.

"Yeah...it's definitely them, I'm positive," Toby insisted, his hand gripping a walkie talkie that he held close to his face and spoke directly into.

The voice that responded from the other end caused Tara's fists to clench in anger, her knuckles turning white: Gareth. "Excellent job, Toby. Really, I mean that. Now...the three of you need to make sure you can get them back here unharmed. I'd say it's safer to play it out like you really want to help them… until you get back to Terminus. Don't reveal your true intentions yet."

Toby nodded his head as he accepted Gareth's wishes, "We won't, Gareth, I-"

"You're one of them…" Tara spoke loudly, causing Toby to jump slightly, nearly dropping the walkie talkie in his hand as he turned his head back to look at her, a twisted grin forming on his lips.

"Oh, look who it is," Toby mused, slowly getting to his feet.

Gareth's voice sounded from the other end again, "Toby? Is something wrong?"

Toby lifted the device to his mouth as Tara felt her knife being forced out of her hand and the blade being held to her throat as Melanie's arm wrapped around the front of her chest, pulling her back against her body.

"We've got some company," Toby replied to Gareth, his twisted grin growing as Derek appeared at Melanie's side, holding Maggie in the same way she was holding onto Tara, the blade of his knife resting on her throat.

"Don't hurt her!" Tara cried in a panic, her hands gripping onto Melanie's arm as she tried to desperately pry it off of herself, but she was unsuccessful as Melanie was much stronger than she was.

"Shut the fuck up," Derek warned Tara, his grip tightening on Maggie's body, pulling her closer to himself, his gaze moving towards Toby, clearly infuriated that their plan had been ruined.

"Company?" Gareth asked, his tone sounding eerily delighted.

"The lesbian overheard our conversation," Toby admitted with slight hesitation.

"Ah," Gareth murmured, not sounding disappointed at all, "my good friend Tara... Her girlfriend's there, too?"

Toby lifted the walkie talkie to his mouth one last time, his eyes darting back and forth between Tara and Maggie. "Yeah, we got both of 'em right here."

"Could I speak with them?" Gareth asked, as if he were about to have a casual conversation with the two women. Toby took a step closer to Tara and Maggie, extending the walkie talkie towards them. "I have to say that I'm quite offended," Gareth said, trying his hardest to sound as if Maggie and Tara had done something to hurt him.

Toby held the button down for Tara as she responded, "What the hell are you talking about?"

A soft and malicious chuckle sounded from Gareth's end before he spoke again. "This was a test, Tara. Running into Toby, Derek, and Melanie: you thought that was an accident? No, no my friends, this was all part of the game."

"Test?" Maggie whispered, her voice helpless and filled with panic as she struggled against Derek's grip, trying to look at Tara.

"So what now?" Tara asked in defeat, her body relaxing as she gave up fighting against Melanie's strength.

"Don't panic yet, sweetheart," Gareth replied in a tone of mock sympathy. "My friends here are going to bring you back to Terminus, and whatever we decide to do to you then, just know that it's completely your fault. I mean, really Tara, I'm offended. You could have just gone on with your lives and survived without your friends. I was kind enough to allow you and your girlfriend to leave Terminus still alive, and the two of you planned on repaying me by attacking us? I have to say that I am extremely disappointed in both of you. But enough talk for now... I'll be seeing the two of you soon enough."


	17. Be Patient

Toby's eyes drifted from Tara's face, over to Maggie's, where they froze as he flashed her a sarcastic smile, bending down as he scooped the handles of his bag into one hand, the zipper undone; leaving the bag wide open. He unceremoniously dropped the walkie talkie into the opening with a soft thump as it hit the other contents of the bag.

"Where did I put 'em…" he mused under his breath, his eyes frantically scanning the interior of his bag.

As Toby reached his hand down to the bottom of his backpack and grabbed ahold of the first set of handcuffs, Tara shifted on her legs, cringing at the thought of the metal restraints rubbing her wrists raw again. They still hadn't healed from the last time she was forced into wearing them. "So what was the point of that talk we had last night?" she growled as Melanie released her from her arms, roughly pushing her towards Toby, who easily forced the handcuffs onto Tara's wrists.

"Well…" Toby started, pausing as he tightened the metal cuffs on her wrists, causing a soft whimper to be emitted from her lips, "for some reason, Gareth had faith that the two of you would just forget about your friends, and never look back. I had to make sure that you really planned on attacking our home and that you really thought that you could do it. Tara, you didn't really think that Gareth was stupid enough to send you out here without supervision? Without people to make sure that our home wasn't going to be threatened? Besides…" Toby roughly gripped onto Maggie's upper arm, yanking her away from Derek's grip, forcing the handcuffs onto her wrists, "I know what your weakness is now."

Tara clenched her jaw as Toby kept a tight grip on Maggie's arm with one hand, and brought his other hand up to cup her face, his gaze shifting over his shoulder to glance at Tara and absorb her anger. With a soft chuckle at the look on Tara's face, Toby turned his attention back to Maggie for a brief second, gently stroking her cheek with his thumb. "It's okay," he mocked her in a gentle and falsely comforting tone as she cringed away from his touch.

"Please…" Tara begged, her voice exhausted and weak, "just leave her alone."

Toby ignored Tara's request, gripping unnecessarily tight onto Maggie's shoulders as he stepped behind her, pushing her forwards. "Let's go," he growled back to Melanie and Derek, implying for them to guide Tara along as he was doing to Maggie.

Obeying his implied request, Melanie gripped onto one of Tara's shoulders, while Derek took the other, roughly forcing her to walk forwards until her step was in sync with Maggie's. The two women exchanged a panicked yet awkward look, as this was the first time Maggie had made eye contact with Tara after finding out about her true feelings towards her.

As Tara looked into Maggie's eyes, she mouthed the words "I'm sorry", before lowering her head, trying to shrug her shoulders out of the brother and sister's grip, but she was unsuccessful as they both held onto her more tightly, their fingers digging into her skin.

"So… this was all jus' a part of your lil' game?" Maggie asked, directing her question back towards Toby, who at first responded with a slight nod.

"Yeah, it was."

"The same game that got my husband killed…" Maggie murmured under her breath.

"Yeah, and the same game that set you free from Terminus in the first place before you decided to fuck up your only opportunity to survive. So quit bitchin' about it. This is your own fault," Toby snapped, releasing Maggie's shoulders just long enough to push her forwards with enough force to cause her to lose her balance, which she quickly regained as he gripped on to her shoulder again. "The two of you could have just gone on with your lives, but no. Instead, you decided that you were going to go back to _my_ home and attack _my_ friends. You're no better than we are."

"Bullshit," Tara growled, growing more furious as she watched Toby treat Maggie like he was. "We never wanted to hurt you until you hurt us."

"_Hurt_ you?! We let you walk out of Terminus alive, _with_ weapons. You should be grateful for that!" Melanie cried defensively, releasing Tara's shoulder and backhanding her across the cheek with enough force to instantly leave a red mark on her skin.

At the sound that the impact created, Maggie quickly turned her head to the side and attempted to wriggle free from Toby's grip and lunge at Melanie, but she was unable to do so.

"Alright! Settle down!" Toby warned Melanie, wrapping his arm tightly around Maggie's abdomen and pulling her back against his chest as he walked, making sure that she couldn't lunge out of his grip. "Gareth wants them delivered _unharmed_, so control yourself, Melanie. They'll be enduring enough pain once we get back to Terminus. Be patient."


	18. Slaughtering of Our Meat

The walk back to Terminus was a less than pleasurable one to say the least. The metal handcuffs were digging relentlessly into Maggie's wrists as she was forced to keep moving forward, her body pressed uncomfortably up against Toby's. For the most part, no one said anything for a few hours, the only sounds that could be heard were the leaves crunching underneath their feet as they trudged on, and the occasional grunt from Toby.

As the railroad tracks came across the large brick building with the letters T-E-R-M-I-N-U-S painted on the side in black, Toby quickened his pace, eager to get Maggie and Tara back inside to Gareth. Melanie and Derek followed his actions, dragging Tara along behind Toby, who's face twisted into an eager grin, catching sight of Gareth standing by the fences, waiting patiently for their arrival.

"Hey!" Toby called over to Gareth, keeping one arm wrapped tightly around Maggie and raising the other in the air to catch Gareth's attention.

Gareth lifted his head up at the familiar sound of Toby's voice, a sickening grin settling on his lips as he pulled open the creaky metal gate, allowing them to enter back into the premises of Terminus. "Welcome back," he greeted Maggie and Tara, his tone calm and casual, as if his intentions were not to hurt them. With one swift movement, he closed the gate again, leaving the hinge unlocked. "This way," Gareth instructed, gesturing with his hands for Melanie, Derek, and Toby to release Tara and Maggie, which they immediately obeyed to.

Now with only her hands restrained, Tara instantly moved to Maggie's side, stumbling a little as she collided into her with unintentional force.

"Calm down, Tara," Gareth demanded as he began to walk forwards, gesturing for the others to follow his lead, glancing over his shoulder at them. "Would one of you _please_ make sure you keep an eye on the lesbian? I have a feeling she's gonna be more difficult than the farmer's daughter."

Tara glared angrily at Gareth for a split second, lunging forwards at him, but Toby quickly restrained her from doing so, grabbing her around the waist with both arms and holding her back. Struggling against Toby's arms, Tara spit in Gareth's direction, missing his face by just a fraction of an inch. "I'm gonna kill you, you asshole!" she cried at the top of her lungs, but her words only caused Gareth to chuckle lightly and shake his head before he continued to walk forwards, Maggie close behind him, directly followed by Melanie and Derek, who were prepared to restrain her if she tried to lunge at Gareth as Tara had.

Toby walked beside Gareth, his arms still wrapped tightly around Tara's waist as he dodged her head, which she threw backwards, with intentions of hitting him in the face so she could wriggle free from his grip. "You were right," Toby muttered to Gareth, laughing sarcastically, "she is more difficult."

Gareth chuckled lightly, coming to a halt outside of the same brick building that Maggie had been brought into just days before, with Glenn at her side. "I think you'll remember this particular building, Maggie," he commented nonchalantly, turning on his heel to face her, his lips twisting into a sickening grin as he could see her bottom lip trembling slightly at the memory of what had happened the last time she had entered the building. "Come on in," Gareth instructed as he wrapped his fingers around the handle of the door, jerking it open a few inches, "although, I must warn you first: you've arrived just in time for the slaughtering of our meat."

"M-meat?" Tara asked, her voice coming out as a hoarse whisper, fear taking over her demeanor as her body tensed, her gaze traveling towards the opened crack of the door, but she was unable to see inside of the building.

Gareth's eyes met Tara's as he flashed her one of his famous grins, pulling the door wide open, and gesturing for Tara and Maggie to step in first, not that they had much of a choice. Toby released Tara, pushing her towards the entrance.

Tara took a reluctant step into the building, her heart racing as she glanced nervously over her shoulder, her eyes locking with Maggie's tear-filled ones as she followed Tara inside. "It's okay," Tara whispered in an attempt to comfort Maggie, her heart sinking as a single tear trailed down Maggie's cheek, followed closely by a soft whimper.

But Maggie didn't acknowledge Tara, as she could focus her attention on nothing else but the dark red stain of blood on the cement floor, marking the exact spot where Glenn had died.

"C'mon, Maggie," Tara urged her gently, turning her head forwards again and stopping dead in her tracks at the sight that met her eyes.

In the center of the large, damp, cement room sat a metal trough, lined entirely on one side with people who were kneeling over it, their hands tied behind their backs, and gags placed between their lips. But these were not just random people; no, Tara instantly recognized their faces. The woman kneeling at the right end of the trough was Sasha, followed by Daryl, Abraham, Eugene, Rosita, Michonne, Carl, and Rick, who's eyes met Tara's, silently screaming for help.

|| A/N: Thank you all so much for sticking with this story so far, it means a lot. :) I absolutely love reading all of the positive reviews you leave, and I will try to update again as soon as possible. Thank you!


	19. Too Far

"Wh-what's going on here?" Tara stammered, breaking her eye contact with Rick as she felt the much welcomed release of the metal restraints on her wrists as Gareth loosened them, allowing them to slide off of her skin and onto the floor with a loud clank as the metal hit the cement surface.

"I thought I told you," Gareth responded nonchalantly, sharing a look with two large men who were looming behind the line of people who kneeled at the trough, "we're slaughtering our meat." Gareth took a step closer to Maggie as the door of the room was slammed shut, Toby stepping in alone.

"Slaughtering _meat_?" Tara asked, her gaze scanning the line of terrified victims, visible beads of sweat trailing down their faces; eyes wide with fear. "These are _human beings_."

"Tomato, tomahto," Gareth murmured, waving a hand dismissively at Tara's comment before grabbing Maggie by the wrists and roughly jerking her towards himself.

Tara immediately moved to lunge at Gareth as he touched Maggie, but Toby was quicker than she was, and instantly grabbed her around the waist, pulling her back against his body.

"Relax, would you?" Gareth called over to Tara as he loosened Maggie's handcuffs, allowing them to fall to the floor just as he had done for Tara.

"Wh-where's Bob?" Maggie asked, swallowing the lump in her throat as her tear-filled eyes scanned the line of her friends kneeling at the trough, all of them present accept for Bob.

Gareth placed a hand gently on Maggie's back, rubbing small, comforting circles on it as he let out a falsely sympathetic sigh, causing Tara to grit her teeth as she ached to lunge at him for putting his hands on Maggie.

"Ya see Maggie… I would have thought that you'd figure out where our good friend Bob is. I mean, you remember that you chose him and Sasha as our next contestants, don't you?" Gareth whispered softly into Maggie's ear, causing her heart to drop as she instantly knew that Bob had died because of her.

"H-he's dead…" she choked out weakly, a few tears slipping down her cheeks as she allowed her eyes to flutter shut.

"I'm afraid so…" Gareth confirmed with a falsely sad sigh, leaning his cheek against the top of Maggie's head in a gesture of mock sympathy for her loss. "Went out the same way Glenn did… wanted to be a hero and save his girl."

"Get away from her!" Tara cried, struggling against her restraints, furious that Gareth would bring up Glenn's death when it was still so fresh in Maggie's memory, and something that she was clearly trying to push aside and not think about.

Gareth completely ignored Tara as he extended his index finger to the opposite side of the room, where Maggie and Tara hadn't even had the chance to look yet. "That's where Bob is," he said, nudging Maggie's arm slightly, indicating that she should look.

Confused, Maggie reopened her eyes, the sight she endured causing her to jump backwards, her breath hitching in her throat. Across the room on a stretcher laid Bob's body, stripped down naked with a bullet hole in-between his eyes, and it appeared that his leg had been removed.

"Don't cry, sweetheart," Gareth whispered softly, wrapping his arm comfortingly around Maggie's shoulders as she began to back away. "He tasted _fantastic_," Gareth said with a soft chuckle, "I really can't wait to finish him off. I mean, he didn't taste nearly as good as Glenn did… which is weird, 'cause I never really was a fan of Chinese food."

Maggie stumbled backwards, freeing herself of Gareth's touch as her face paled, feeling like she was going to pass out. He was lying, right? He didn't _actually_ eat Glenn… did he? Maggie couldn't answer this for sure, but the thought of it alone caused her to fall to her knees, her breathing becoming erratic as helpless sobs were emitted from her lips.

As Maggie fell to the floor sobbing, Tara refused to stand by and watch, so she sent a forceful kick to Toby's shin, causing him to immediately let go of her before she ran to Maggie's side, dropping to the floor beside her and enveloping her in a tight embrace. Maggie leaned into Tara's hug, tucking her head into the crook of her neck as her arms wrapped around Tara's abdomen.

"What the fuck is wrong with you people?!" Tara cried, her voice breaking despite the fact that she was trying to sound intimidating, but she couldn't take it anymore: Gareth and his people had taken this too far.

Gareth responded to Tara's question with nothing but a chuckle before he glanced at the two men who had been looming behind the line of people kneeling at the trough.

Tara's gaze immediately shot over to the two men as they both gave Gareth a small nod of consent, the taller of the two raising his metal bat in the air before bringing it down with a forceful swing to the back of Sasha's head. Sasha then went limp, her head hanging forwards into the trough, unconscious, before the second man grabbed her by the hair, pulling her head back and exposing her neck before gliding the blade of his knife across it, causing dark red blood to pour from the gaping wound and spill into the metal trough.


	20. I Will Put You Down

Maggie's sobs drowned out the sound of the ruthless slaughter that had just begun, but nonetheless, Tara kept a protective hand on Maggie's neck, forcing her to keep her head down and her face hidden into the crook of her neck. Tara wasn't aware of the extent of Maggie and Sasha's friendship, but regardless of how close the two women were or weren't; the last thing that Maggie needed to witness in her current emotional state was her friends being murdered.

"Stop! P-please stop," Tara begged, tears cascading down her cheeks as the men stepped sideways, getting in position to execute Daryl.

Gareth held a hand up at the men, gesturing for them to stop for a moment. "What, Tara? What is it?" he asked, sounding dramatically exasperated.

"Th-the game," she stammered out, her breathing becoming almost as erratic as Maggie's was, "this goes against the rules. B-Bob was killed! You were supposed to let Sasha go free..."

Gareth chuckled at Tara's statement, shaking his head to imply that she was entirely mistaken. "I'm afraid that the rules of the game flew out of the window the moment you told Toby of your intentions to attack Terminus. The only concern that we have now is the two of you," he responded, extending his index finger towards Tara and Maggie, his malicious grin twisting his features. "The only rules we intend to abide by now, are that we must_ constantly _be torturing the two of you."

With that, Gareth snapped his fingers at the two men, who resumed their previous task, first swinging the metal bat down onto Daryl's skull, instantly knocking him out. The second man grabbed a fistful of his dark brown hair, yanking his head back and dragging the blade of his knife across Daryl's neck, dark red blood pouring seemingly endlessly from his wound, which was identical to Sasha's.

"Stop!" Tara screamed at the top of her lungs, watching Daryl's lifeless body fall forwards, his blood spilling out into the metal trough.

The volume of Tara's voice caused Maggie's head to snap upwards, her eyes wide with confusion as she released Tara's abdomen with one arm, raising her hand to her own face and brushing away the heavy streaks of tears, which were almost instantly replaced by fresh ones.

Tara quickly placed her hand back on the nape of Maggie's neck, attempting to force her head back down, protecting her from witnessing the horrific slaughter that had just begun, but her attempt was an unsuccessful one. Maggie dodged Tara's hand, turning her face first towards Gareth, and then towards the trough, her breath instantly hitching in her throat as she caught sight of Daryl and Sasha's lifeless bodies. "Oh, my god…" Maggie whispered softly, her head falling back heavily against Tara's chest as her body grew weak.

"Don't look," Tara instructed, keeping her voice low and soothing as she ran her hand gently through Maggie's hair, placing her lips softly to her forehead. "You pieces of shit need to stop!"

Looking slightly taken aback by her words, Gareth gestured for his men to stop again before glaring down at Tara on the floor; Maggie wrapped protectively in her arms. "Let go of Maggie," he instructed, his voice stern and demanding.

"N-no," Tara replied with defiance, pulling Maggie closer to herself and shaking her head vigorously.

"I don't have time for this," Gareth muttered through gritted teeth, lunging towards the two women before he grasped tightly onto Maggie's upper arm, yanking her roughly out of Tara's hold.

"N-no, please!" Maggie pleaded between heavy sobs, extending her arms down towards Tara in a desperate attempt to collapse back into her comforting embrace.

"You: shut up!" Gareth demanded as he backhanded Maggie across the cheek with enough force to send her stumbling backwards, her eyes wide with fear as she cupped her aching and bruised cheek in her hand. With a snap of his fingers, Gareth glared at Toby, who instantly grabbed Maggie around the waist, preventing her from lunging towards Gareth as he proceeded with his actions.

As soon as Gareth's hand made contact with the side of Maggie's face, Tara scrambled up to her feet, her jaw clenched as her heart raced with anger. "You _ever_ lay a finger on her again, and I swear to Christ I will _put you down,_" she growled furiously, her hands balling into fists that were clenched so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

Tara's rage and protectiveness surprised Gareth, but not nearly as much as it surprised Tara herself. She hadn't cared enough about someone to threaten somebody's life over them since her sister and niece were still alive.

"Is that so?" Gareth whispered, an eerie grin twisting his features before he sent a bone-shattering punch into Tara's stomach, causing her to double over in pain, clutching at her side.

"Tara!" Maggie cried, struggling against Toby's strength, but it was no use; he was twice as strong as she was, if not more. It was too late anyway; Gareth was already sending endless blows and kicks into Tara's body, finally stopping as she fell to the floor in an unconscious heap.


	21. You're My Family, Too

As Tara finally regained consciousness, her eyes hesitantly fluttered open, bringing nothing into view except darkness, and slowly the faint outlines of Maggie's face hovering above her own, a large and purple bruise visible on her cheek, even in the practically non-existent light.

"M...Maggie?" Tara muttered weakly, quickly realizing that she was lying flat on her back on the hard surface of a wooden floor with her head resting on Maggie's lap; a pounding headache blurring her vision as she tried to sit up.

"Uh-uh, no," Maggie whispered in disapproval of her actions, placing her hands lightly on Tara's shoulders before gently pushing her back down until she was laying again. "You need t'rest. You're hurt…"

Tara let out a soft groan of pain; her entire body aching as she reached her hand up towards Maggie's face, gently brushing her fingertips over her bruise, causing Maggie to pull her head back, the unexpected contact causing her pain and catching her off guard. "Your cheek…" Tara whispered worriedly, retracting her hand back down to herself.

"Don't worry 'bout it," Maggie replied dismissively, using her index finger to brush a loose strand of dark hair off of Tara's forehead; better revealing the much more prominent bruises that covered her face from where Gareth's punches and kicks had landed. "Your's are a lot worse than mine is."

"Why're you being so protective of me right now?" Tara asked suddenly, obviously having previously been the one to loom protectively over Maggie all of the time; not the other way around.

Maggie laughed weakly, tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear. "I'm not allowed t'care 'bout you?"

Slightly flustered at Maggie's response, Tara stuttered out an apology, "N-no… I-I didn't mean it like that."

"Relax," Maggie whispered, "I was jus' kiddin'. It's jus'... all this time _you've_ been the one comfortin' an' protectin'_ me_. Y'know? But, I'm not weak… _I_ can protect _you_, too."

"I know you can."

"So let me," Maggie teased Tara, lightly poking the tip of her nose with her index finger.

"Where are we?" Tara asked, allowing her eyes to close as her skin broke into goosebumps at Maggie's touch.

"We're in a train car… again," Maggie said with a soft groan, grabbing Tara's plaid outer shirt from the floor beside herself before draping it over Tara's body as a blanket. It was nearing winter, and the temperature had dropped considerably during the course of the day. The interior of the metal train car was so cold that Maggie could see her breath turn to fog as it hit the air.

"Where are the others?" Tara whispered, half not wanting to know what had happened to them after she was knocked out as she gripped the edges of her shirt, pulling it up further so that it covered her bare arms.

"They're alive," Maggie said, wrapping her arms around herself to stop herself from shivering, still wearing only a tank top. "I-I begged 'em t'stop. Hard t'believe, but I think that somewhere deep down… Gareth's still human."

"What do you mean by_ that_?" Tara asked, her tone growing icy as the mention of Gareth's name alone caused anger to flood through her. How could Maggie say that after everything he had done to hurt them?

"I-I mean, after you were out, Toby let go of me…" Maggie paused for a moment, as if she was hesitant to admit the next thing she was going to say. "An' I dropped t'my knees at your side, cryin' so hard… I'm surprised Gareth even could understand me."

"What did you say?" Tara asked, her voice still conveying anger.

"I-I dunno, honestly," Maggie admitted, chuckling nervously. "I jus'... I begged for him t'stop; stop killin' 'em an' t'stop hurtin' you… an' I think he felt bad for me, 'cause he listened."

"So… where are they all?" Tara whispered, her voice returning to the gentle tone she normally used when speaking with Maggie.

"Gareth had a group of people come in t'untie 'em all an' bring 'em out t'the train car again," Maggie explained, running her fingers through Tara's hair as she tried to keep her relaxed; noticing how angry and upset she had become at Maggie's earlier mention of Gareth. "Melanie an' Derek were there… an' so was the man who killed Glenn. Gareth called him Martin…" Maggie murmured, the last sentence more to herself than to Tara.

Tara nodded her head weakly, staring up at Maggie as she asked her yet another question: "So, how'd we end up in here?"

Maggie scoffed lightly, gently brushing her thumb over the surface of a large bruise on Tara's face. "Toby carried you in here. They… they didn't need t'force me t'get in; not after they threw you in here."

"Why didn't you ask to go in the train car with Rick and all them? I mean, _they're_ your family," Tara whispered sadly, clearly expecting that Maggie would have rather been with them than with her.

The corners of Maggie's lips curled upwards weakly into a sad smile as she leaned down, grasping lightly onto Tara's hand, maneuvering it until their fingers were tangled together. "You're my family, too," she whispered, lowering her head until her forehead was resting against Tara's. "Now get some sleep. I think tomorrow's gonna be a bad day…"

"Why do you think that?" Tara asked, clearing her throat mid-sentence as the sudden and unexpected contact with Maggie caused her to become nervous, her breath hitching in her throat.

"Before Toby an' Gareth locked the door, Gareth said: 'We're gonna have a lot of fun in the mornin''. I'm guessin' that's not a good thing..."


	22. That Was Nothing

When Tara woke the next morning, her eyelids fluttered open: squinted in the bright light of the white walls that surrounded her. She was no longer inside of the train car, but instead was seated uncomfortably in a large wooden chair that was pulled close to a circular table that looked like it belonged in a high school cafeteria. "M-Maggie?" she stuttered out, panic coursing through her when she realized that Maggie was not there. "Wh-where am I?

"Not important," answered a man's voice, which to Tara's surprise did not belong to Gareth.

Pushing herself up in her chair so that her back rested flat against the back of it, Tara's squinted eyes met the man's seated across from her at the table. She instantly recognized him as the man who had taken Maggie and Glenn from the train car: the man who had killed Glenn. He had a smug and sickening face that somehow reminded Tara of Gareth in some way, framed by dark locks of greasy hair which were covered by a navy-blue baseball cap. What did Maggie say his name was? Martin?

"Where's Maggie?" It was more of a demand for him to tell her that it was a question.

"She'll be here soon, don't worry. She's 'spending a little time' with our good friend Gareth," Martin replied, his features twisting into a grin as he watched Tara's face drop.

"What?" Tara asked, anger pumping through her veins, but her voice came out as a weak and hoarse whisper.

"Oh, honey don't look so upset," Martin said softly, a small chuckle passing through his lips, "I'm sure he'll get his turn with you, too."

"He better not even _touch_ her," Tara growled through gritted teeth, her fists clenching, making her realize that her left wrist was handcuffed to the arm of the wooden chair she sat in, preventing her from leaving the chair.

"He's doin' a lot more than touching her, I'll tell ya that right now," Martin responded, chuckling as if there were something funny about what he was implying.

"I'll kill him, I swear to Christ," Tara hissed, pulling against her restraints, which did nothing but cause the metal of the handcuffs to clang loudly against the wooden arm of the chair.

"Yeah… good luck with that," Martin replied with no enthusiasm, seeming almost bored as he leaned back in his chair, his elbow on the arm of his chair and his head leaning against his hand for support. "You're not leaving that chair."

"What do you sick fucks_ want_ with us?" Tara asked, exasperated as she gave up pulling against her restraints, letting her hand fall to her side in a gesture of defeat.

Martin shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, as if what they were doing was no big deal. "I dunno. I'm just following Gareth's orders, ya know? He's kinda the boss around here if you haven't noticed. And unlucky for _you_, he's taken a special interest in you and your little girlfriend."

"Leave her _out_ of this. She didn't do anything wrong," Tara growled, immediately jumping to Maggie's defense as anger coursed through her again, knowing exactly what was currently happening to Maggie.

Martin scoffed softly before he spoke. "Not in your eyes, of course. I get it, Tara, I do. You think _we're_ the bad guys. But you're wrong. If you remember correctly, you and your girlfriend were planning on marching yourselves right back here to _attack_ us; and after we set you free."

"And if _you_ remember correctly; you murdered my 'girlfriend's' husband in front of her. How does that in any way translate to you _not_ being the bad guys?"

"Survival, Tara. We all have our own ways of doing it," Martin responded simply, turning his head towards the door that was directly behind him as the knob slowly turned, creaking softly.

Tara's breath hitched in her throat, her eyes widening as they glued themselves to the door, desperately needing to see that Maggie was okay.

At first, it was Gareth who stepped into the room, his famous sickening grin plastered onto his features as he mimicked a polite nod towards Tara. He was followed closely by Maggie, who's eyes were widened with fear, her body trembling and her arms wrapped around her torso in a self-conscious manner.

"M-Maggie," Tara whispered, her voice barely audible; her heart sinking as her eyes locked on Maggie, but she refused to make eye contact, her gaze fixated on the floor.

Tara's gaze shot back over to Gareth as he pressed his palm against the door, pushing it shut with a soft click. "Good morning," he greeted Tara casually, placing his hand on the center of Maggie's back, which caused her to cringe, a few stray tears cascading down her cheeks as her eyes closed in fear, a small whimper sounding from the back of her throat. Gareth's pants were still unzipped…

"Get away from her," Tara demanded, her voice shaking uncontrollably as tears built in her eyes; wanting nothing more than to hold Maggie and comfort her, just as she had done for Tara after Gareth had beaten her half to death.

"Fine by me," Gareth replied casually, forcefully shoving Maggie in Tara's direction before plopping down into the wooden chair at Martin's side.

Maggie paused for a moment: confused, before she scrambled towards Tara's side of the table, pulling a wooden chair to the right side of Tara's, and pushing them as close together as they would go before seating herself in it. "I'm sorry," Maggie whispered weakly, still refusing to make eye contact as she reached for Tara's hand, gently lacing their fingers together.

"Don't apologize," Tara whispered back, giving Maggie's hand a tight and reassuring squeeze before softly rubbing her thumb across the surface of Maggie's skin.

"Shut up," Gareth demanded, instantly drawing both women's attention towards himself. "You thought that was bad, huh, Maggie?" he chuckled loudly as Maggie sniffled, crossing her left leg over her right, clearly uncomfortable just being in his presence now. "That was _nothing_ compared to the rest of the week you two are going to have here."


	23. How Hungry Are You?

Gareth placed both of his elbows onto the wooden arms of his chair, folding his hands together in front of himself as he glared over at his two victims, the grin on his face clearly showing the enjoyment he was gaining from torturing them. "Martin, you can go now," Gareth spoke again after a few moments of tense and uncomfortable silence had passed, gesturing towards the door with his head, dismissing Martin. "I can watch them now."

Martin appeared hesitant as he obeyed Gareth's request, responding with a slight nod of understanding as he pushed his chair back away from the table and exited.

At the soft click of the door as it closed behind Martin, Gareth sat up straight, resting his arms on the table in front of himself, glancing back and forth between Maggie and Tara. "He'll be back later on," he explained, gesturing towards the door with his head again to make it clear that he was speaking about Martin. "That's when the real fun is gonna start."

"You know I'm going to kill you… right?" Tara murmured furiously, her eyes locking with Gareth's, but her attempt at intimidating him only caused him to laugh.

"You know, Tara," he started, shaking his finger at her as he licked his lips, "out of the two of you: you're my favorite. Always have been."

Tara responded to Gareth's comment with silence, her gaze never faltering from his eyes as she continued to try and intimidate him. It seemed that it wasn't going to work.

"Wanna know why?" Gareth asked, continuing on with his answer before even giving Tara the chance to answer. "I don't really know, Tara. I just_ like_ you better than I like Maggie. She's kind of whiny and defenseless, don't you think?" Gareth spoke about Maggie as if she weren't in the room.

"No, I don't," Tara responded immediately, the anger she was feeling growing more apparent in her voice. "She's been through too much, asshole. Most of it is your fault."

Gareth continued on as if Tara had never spoken. "But not you, Tara. No, you stand up for yourself. You're _brave_. You don't listen to the rules. And best of all, you _actually_ believe that you're going to kill me."

"I am."

"Explain to me: how?" Gareth requested, leaning forwards in his chair as if he were fascinated with what Tara's response would be.

"I don't know yet."

"Exactly, there's two of you; fifty of us. How do you see that going for you and precious little Maggie, hmm?"

"I meant: I haven't decided how I'm going to do it yet. I was planning on shooting you. Right… there," Tara started, lifting the index finger of her restrained left hand, and pointing to the center of Gareth's forehead, indicating where she had intended to shoot him. "But, I think that's too humane for a monster like you. You don't deserve to go quickly. And I'm gonna make sure that you suffer."

It seemed as if Tara's words had finally intimidated Gareth, as he sunk backwards in his chair; speechless, looking a little frightened as his eyes met her hate-filled ones. "What have I done to deserve that?" he asked after a moment, as if he hadn't killed their friends, as if he hadn't beat Tara half to death, as if he hadn't raped Maggie.

"What you did to me: I don't even care, but what you did to Maggie…" Tara's voice trailed off as she released Maggie's hand, leaning forwards in her chair. "You must not have ever cared about somebody like this if you don't understand why I wanna make you suffer for what you did."

"You don't know anything about me," Gareth responded, his tone sounding dangerous. Tara had clearly struck a nerve, which made her grow cocky; flashing Gareth a grin that was almost an exact imitation of his.

Breaking the tension in the room, Maggie let out a soft whimper of discomfort as she scooted over in her seat; closer to Tara, her thigh brushing against Tara's. The sudden contact with Maggie caused Tara to become nervous and tense up, her attention finally falling away from Gareth, which is when he took his opportunity to gain control yet again.

"I'll be back," he announced, his voice returning to it's normal tone as he stood from his seat, stepping towards the door. "And be prepared for when I do. Martin will be with me…"

"Just go," Tara growled venomously.

"I am… but one last question before I do: how hungry are you?"


	24. I Know

As the soft click of the door shutting sounded, signifying Gareth's exit, Tara rotated her body in her seat to the right so that she was fully facing Maggie; her dark, tear-filled eyes frantically studying Maggie's tear-streaked face as she tried to figure out how badly she had been hurt by Gareth.

"What's wrong?" Maggie whispered weakly as she felt the weight of Tara's stare.

"Are-are you okay?" Tara whispered gently, cautiously lifting her free hand to Maggie's face and softly stroking her cheek with her thumb as she brushed away the leftover tears that had trailed down her paled skin, careful not to startle her.

"M'fine, Tara. Really," Maggie responded unconvincingly, shaking her head in a dismissive manner.

"No, you're _not…_" Tara insisted, gesturing with her hand for Maggie to move closer to her. "C'mere, Maggie…_ please_."

Maggie groaned softly in mock annoyance at Tara's concern, not willing to admit to herself that she was glad that someone still cared about her like that, even after Glenn was gone.

"M'fine," she insisted again, hesitantly standing up from her chair and seating herself beside Tara, but the wooden seat wasn't wide enough for the both of them and Maggie wound up halfway on Tara's lap.

"Maggie…" Tara whispered, her voice breaking as her eyes began scanning over Maggie's entire body, seeing the dark bruises that covered her arms from where Gareth's fingers had gripped onto her.

"Stop worryin' 'bout me," Maggie demanded, leaning her head against Tara's shoulder as she felt the other woman's arm wrap around her waist in a protective manner. "We're gonna kill 'em all anyway, right?" Maggie asked, sounding almost eager to do so as she voiced her opinion on the matter for the first time.

"Right," Tara confirmed, followed by a single nod of her head as she pressed her lips to Maggie's temple. "We just gotta get our guns back, and gain some control, maybe get the rest of your people back with us… and _then_ we can do it."

Maggie shifted her body slightly, seating herself more comfortably on Tara's lap, lifting her head from the other woman's shoulder; Tara's arm still wrapped firmly around her waist.

"We can do it," Maggie whispered reassuringly, a small and barely noticeable hint of nervousness in her voice as she contemplated her next move, placing her fingertips underneath the slightly shorter woman's chin, tilting Tara's face up towards her own, their mouths now just a fraction of an inch apart.

"Yeah… we can," Tara agreed with a slight nod of her head, before she closed the practically nonexistent gap between her mouth and Maggie's.

As Maggie felt the sudden and unfamiliar contact of Tara's lips against her own, she allowed her eyes to flutter shut, one hand resting on the side of Tara's cheek, cupping it gently, and the other working its way to the back of her head; her fingers tangling themselves into Tara's short, dark hair.

A soft and involuntary moan of pleasure sounded from the back of Maggie's throat as Tara broke the kiss after a long moment, pulling her head back an inch or so, her dark eyes frantically searching Maggie's face for any sign of her reaction to what had just happened.

But, Maggie was too busy taking in the moment to notice; her eyes still closed as she pressed her forehead against Tara's.

With a wave of relief washing over her as she observed how calm Maggie was, Tara closed her eyes again for a brief moment, her arm tightening around Maggie's waist as she pulled her in closer. "I love you…" she whispered with slight hesitation, terrified that her words would ruin the moment.

"I know," Maggie whispered back, loosening her grip on Tara's hair as she retracted her hand back towards herself, keeping the other gently cupping Tara's cheek. "I-I think I love you, too..."


End file.
